The Red Sox will begin a three-game series with the Diamondbacks from Chase Field tonight. The series will be a homecoming of sorts for outfielder Alex Verdugo.
The Arizona native is excited that he’ll be able to play back home in front of his parents.
“I’ll be able to have my parents come out there and watch me, and that’s just something that, being all the way over here in Boston, we don’t get to do too much anymore,” Verdugo said in an interview with Tucson Local Media. “It’s going to just be nice. It’ll be really refreshing to see my family and have them go to the games.”
This will be Verdugo’s first major league game in Arizona since 2019. He did play at Chase Field during the 2023 World Baseball Classic for Team Mexico.
Boston’s right fielder sat out of the series finale versus the Angels. Verdugo had been dealing with a groin strain but his absence from the lineup appeared to be more of a scheduled day off than injury related.
Verdugo enters the DBacks series scuffling at the plate. He’s 0-for-14 and has not reached base in his last 3 games (0-for-12), after a 10-game on-base streak where he went 11-for-38, with five walks.
Despite that stretch, Verdugo has been one of the Red Sox' most consistent hitters this season.
Overall he’s batting .283 and has five homers with 19 RBIs. The 27-year-old ranks among American League leaders in runs scored with 37 (tied for third), 53 hits (tied for eighth), 15 doubles (tied for second), and 21 extra bass hits (tied for 15th).
He’s feasted on fastballs hammering 12 doubles, one triple and three homers, owning a .302 batting average and a .558 slugging percentage.
Verdugo has looked different in the field as well, manning right field every day shifting from left field.
His strong arm plays well in Fenway Park’s unique right field. Exclusively as a right fielder, Verdugo has accumulated 4 Defensive Runs Saved and 3 Outs Above Average, per Baseball Savant.
Another positive for Verdugo is he’s healthy, despite the groin strain suffered against the Mariners.
Last season, Verdugo played with a broken toe, according to his brother Chris. His injury hindered his explosiveness and athleticism in the outfield.
“Players don’t like talking about playing through injuries, Alex just doesn’t want to go on the IL, and sometimes it’s to the detriment of his stats, but he prides himself on trying to be out there playing everyday,” his brother tweeted.
After being called out by Alex Cora at the end of last season, Verdugo has come into the season in great physical shape and has elevated his game.
“I’m real about it. I don’t like when people talk (expletive) about me,” Verdugo said to reporters during spring training. “I don’t like when people say anything about me in certain ways. But in his aspect, he wasn’t saying it to bash me. He wasn’t saying it out of spite. He was saying it because he truly believes that there’s so much more and that he wants to figure out a way to spark it and to get it. I think he did.”
Cora’s message to Verdugo appears to have been received. He’s enjoying a breakout season that has catapulted him into All-Star consideration.
